Tales of adventures in quilting, gardening, photography and cooking from the Kingdom of Chiconia

Back to the future

It has taken me a while to recover, not because my back is particularly bad, or because it was an unpleasant experience, but because the journey home was gruelling, of which, more later.

This was six months ago. Not a pretty sight. I couldn’t walk for more than 5 minutes, sleeping was very difficult, the pain was strong and constant, despite powerful drugs. The displaced vertebra at the bottom of the left hand image was pressing against my spinal cord.

The next one is three months after surgery. Still a fair bit of pain from muscles which were cut and reattached, and my spine was re-learning how it should behave. But you can see the fusion site is beginning to fill in with new bone around the dots which are the little ‘cage’ structure the surgeon implanted.

This is now. The new bone is almost solid. Another 6 months, and you won’t be able to see the junction between the two adjacent vertebrae.

I walked cheerfully and painlessly up the very steep hill from Brisbane’s Central Station to Wickham Terrace, the location of the Brisbane Private Hospital, and two hours later, back down the same hill. Without pain, without problems, and without painkillers. The surgery was complex, painful and expensive, but so, so worth it. The screws are strong and unmoving. The vertebral fusion site, filled with granules of artificial bone, is becoming more and more solid and stable – in another 6 months, it’ll be completely filled. The scar is small and minimal. I am so happy I went ahead with surgery.

And this is it. No more visits required, no more drugs. And most importantly, no more hanging around Brisbane Airport, waiting for a flight home. The catering for coeliacs in the Domestic terminal is virtually non-existent, and on Thursday, I was stuck there for EIGHT HOURS while my flight was delayed again, and again, and again. Having got up at 4.30am on Thursday to catch my flight in the morning, I didn’t fall into bed until 1.00am on Friday morning. I won’t miss that…

I have to have one more CT scan in six months, to give the surgeon one final image for his clinical study of this new surgical process. But I can get that done at home, no worries, and no travel!

Glad that phase is over, & it’s healing so well. I’m still finding the gluten free tricky at times, especially out & about. I mean how difficult is it, to stock a simple plain gluten free snack bar ( in a large establishment) I’m still shocked at the amount of added gluten in stuff you wouldn’t expect it to be in.

It’s insidious stuff, isn’t it? I’ve learned to slip a couple of GF snack bars in my handbag when I’m on a trip, but this time I plain forgot. And now that I have that tasty bread roll recipe, I can actually take a packed lunch!

Mostly I try to remember, it’s when you have to travel light or need something hot to eat it’s a problem. I ate contaminated food on Thursday, due to having to stay at school late, ( some people just don’t get it makes me ill) at a local pub/ restaurant. I’m still feeling the after effects! Headache, feeling spaced out & this morning I fell over. I’m ok

What a wonderful success! YAY! I am so glad you found him and everything is coming together! Traveling for people with Celiac is torture…Terry and I so understand. I’m glad you back home and HEALING!!!!

That is terrific news! You said that you need one more ct scan for his study – is this a new way of doing the fusing and is he the only one that does this? I have been on “mind benders” ( pain drugs ) for over ten years and would love to get off them. Maybe I should get a mortgage on the house and make a trip down under!?? So happy for the spring in your step!

No, he’s not the only one, but he’s a very skilled surgeon, an early adopter of new technology, and this procedure is minimally invasive. He’s collating very complete records for all the patients having this procedure to try and establish the optimal time/age/issue for best results. I was able to come off oxycodone 3 months ago, and can manage quite well with non-prescription medication now. If you’re interested in the procedure, you can find out more here:http://www.nuvasive.com/patient-solutions/nuvasive-surgical-solutions/mas-plif/

Great that you got conformation that all is progressing well internally too. I’ve noticed they cancel lots of flights to regional towns, very rude of the airlines to leave you cooling your heels for hours on end. Have a happy Christmas Kate, see you in 2017

It was especially frustrating to watch flights take off to all the other regional towns! We were the last flight out of the airport that day, grrr. A very happy Christmas to you to, and to your family. See you next year, I hope 🙂